GRINNELL MAN WINS $10,000 LOTTERY PRIZE

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Paul Kelm Wins Top Prize Playing the "Flying Aces" Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Grinnell man won the top prize of $10,000 playing the lottery's "Flying Aces" instant-scratch game.

Paul Kelm said he picked up a Flying Aces ticket to try something new and ended up with the top prize.

"It was pretty surprising. I called my mom and then went to the station to have it checked," Kelm said.

Kelm said when he took the ticket back to the store where he bought it to be checked, everyone in the store told him congratulations.

"My dad knows, my grandma knows, and my supervisor at work knows now," he said.

Kelm said he plans to put the money away until he can decide how to use his winnings.

Kelm claimed his prize Tuesday at the Iowa Lottery's headquarters in Des Moines. He purchased his winning ticket at Casey's, 217 Sixth Ave. in Grinnell.

The Flying Aces scratch game is a $2 game. If “Your Card” beats the "Dealer's Card," players win the prize shown for that play area. If they find an "Ace" symbol, they win double the prize shown. The overall odds of winning in the game are 1 in 3.84.

Seventeen top prizes of $10,000 are still up for grabs in the Flying Aces game, as well as 545 prizes of $100.

Since the Iowa Lottery's inception in 1985, its players have won more than $2.4 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised nearly $1.2 billion for state programs.